Jeemy's Elan Rebuild

[Jeemy]

Turbo is back on. Exhaust being built on now.

Can anybody confirm to me that I understand 'fill the turbo with clean oil' correctly - from the Wiki.

Do I simply pour in some clean *engine* oil through the oil feed on the top of the turbo? I've read stuff about having to remove the injector harness and crank the engine to feed it through before starting. Is this also necessary?

How much oil should I put in? Until it dribbles out the top?

Thanks in advance - pics in return later!

J

[muley]

Turbo is back on. Exhaust being built on now.

Can anybody confirm to me that I understand 'fill the turbo with clean oil' correctly - from the Wiki.

Do I simply pour in some clean *engine* oil through the oil feed on the top of the turbo? I've read stuff about having to remove the injector harness and crank the engine to feed it through before starting. Is this also necessary?

How much oil should I put in? Until it dribbles out the top?

Thanks in advance - pics in return later!

J

After my rebuild, I turned the engine over without the spark plugs in until the oil pressure had built up before restarting. I did *sort* of prime the turbo by putting oil in it mixed 50/50 with Wynns.

Jim

[Jeemy]

Wynns Stop Smoke? I'd rather remove spark plugs than fuel injector harnesses….

[dapinky]

I'd rather remove spark plugs than fuel injector harnesses….

...or you could just trip the inertia switch by the battery to prevent the fuel pump from sending any fuel whilst you turn the key for a few turns to prime the engine oil.

[Jeemy]

Thanks chaps. Putting the mid-section of the exhaust on was the hardest thing I've ever had to do; getting that little rubber fitting to go on, GAWD!

Exhaust is on back to just before silencer. I've cleverly locked myself out of my store, where I *hope* the boot bracket lies, but I worked 12 straight hours today, theres not much more I could have done. I've lost my keys but my studio's manager has a spare so he can let me back in. My life is in ruins, heh, I am just managing to keep on top of things until I get this started.

Had a REALLY good parts find, imma save showing/telling until its installed, you'll love it.

Tomorrow all I have to do is reconnect the electric harness, do a couple of air hoses, put the silencer on, and put the 7 remaining manifold nuts on. Turns out the 'immobiliser' was either disconnected, or I pulled it out. We'll see tomorrow.

I can't wait to turn the key. Before I do, my spot checks are:

- rinse the coolant system, then fill with waterwetter and water
- check oil level, and fill the turbo with oil, i'll find the inertia switch, the covers in that area have to come off for the roll bars anyway. i'll save the full oil change til later once she's had a couple of runs, and do transmission fluid at the same time (still not 100% clear on what the D-shaped filler hole is) but i will top up if needed
- torque the steering wheel nut
- check all the coolant hose clamps are solid

If there's anything else I should check please let me know. Bear in mind its the first time I've done any of this. Anything obvious still let me know. Its not obvious to me!

Photos after she starts. Or when I panic because she doesn't. Car appears to be female now she looks like a car again. Lets hope she acts like one too…..

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Just thinking out loud: Doesn't the ECM pulse the fuel pump to prime the circuit when you first turn the key to ignition?

The wiring diagram seems to suggest this:

Tripping the inertia switch might not prevent the engine from starting?

Engine can't start if the spark plugs are not connected (unplug at the coils?)

You might also want to double check that the oil cooler lines are installed and tight.

[Jeemy]

Its easy to unplug the sparks. Ideally at the actual spark plug end. What do you think?

[Brit-Car-Nut]

If the cover is still off they are easy to unplug, I thought you had buttoned that section up already.

I see in the last picture where the head is visible, the center cover was still off, so just be careful not to pull the connector off the wire - be sure to pull the boot, not the wire to unplug.

The coils would be the next easiest, I think.

[Jeemy]

So pull the boot off the spark plug? Rather than the whole spark? Thats a can do!

[Brit-Car-Nut]

With long reach spark plug connectors, it is unfortunately easier to pull the wire out of the socket than the socket off the spark plug. You do NOT want to do that. Make sure you are pulling the entire socket off the plug.

[Jeemy]

On with the story! Still no manifold nuts today!

Copper washers finally arrived and are a perfect fit. I now see the measurements are in Dave Pink's guides, and it also kindly gives the measurements for the oil pipe so I ordered 100 of those. So I have 96 of the coolant and oil washers spare, they are 1.5mm not 1 but I figure as compression washers they probably end up at 1!

Pipe was finished up shortly after that:

Time to reinstall the turbo. I put in the first copaslipped stud, did HJ's trick of tightening to full then backing off half a turn to prevent seizure, masking taped the gasket on (DRY!) and realized the gasket I thought was the exhaust oil drain and wrongly sized, was the EGR gasket I cleverly ordered in an exhausted haze months back, I totally forgot!

I got my crane into position:

And after much swearing, I had to remove the wastegate capsule and disconnect the arm to maneuvre her in…….I left it hanging by the pipe which later I realized I would have to remove anyway…….I held her on by putting in the EGR pipe and the far stud on the right as you can see here (also note the heatshrink wrap which I hope will neaten up the dipstick handle when I finally remember my heatgun from home):

I located the far nut just to stop the turbo swinging around:

Later on at stud 5, I thought I'd stripped a thread on the engine block. Geo. Brown & sons would have had a time with that! Turns out there was just a little pressure on it from the turbo assembly hanging to the right (like I dress) so I removed the nut, swung it out, swopped 2 studs apropos of nothing just to see if it was the stud or the nut, and after about an hour with a little E8 spanner (I later found an E8 star socket that I'd bought in a 'tired and confused' moment that would have halfed this time), all the studs were in and the turbo was secure.

As I had 2 nuts from SJs and the gasket went on dry, I felt confident enough and its not that much over finger-tight, plus I need to put the PAS pump back into tension, after which I will no longer be able to access it, to torque up the left and right nuts to full 43.3:

The coolant pipe's heatshield/mount was very far out of whack, but it had to be mounted so I whacked it with a hammer and didn't damage it thankfully:

[Jeemy]

I should note in the previous, elegantly mid-drop, I pulled off my hooded top and jammed it down the front to prevent damage to the clamshell! Others following this in the future may want to disrobe before you are supporting the turbo with one hand……

I tightened up the EGR brackets which I'd loosened aeons ago to aid removal:

And located the two coolant pipes. I've slung the neoprene sleeve onto the Samco pipe, it doesn't look to shabby and as the lower pipe runs very close to the long pipe passing across the block, maybe it will help in heat shielding. Note that now the gasket area is covered the painted engine block is looking much better:

I've been a bit stupid and left the centre cover area open for a very long time. It was already a bit grimy, and I've tried with a big Henry to clear it out, but couldn't get the access. Time to try with a little one I got for Christmas:

Needless to say this was fruitless; my final option is my mini valeting B&D hoover that is powered from a cig lighter. Short of parking another car inside the Lotus, I won't get an option to use this until the electrics are reconnected, so I might wipe this out with a Huggy! Moving on, I connected the air spigot to the box, and pulled up the cable from the wastegate frequency something, note its a bit rusty, but I am past caring as I am now up to 200 hours on the car, 100 in the last 3 weeks!

Reviewing what connected to this, I came to the conclusion (and I hope I am right) that CR got it wrong and this pipe doesn't connect to a single entry - I had to prise their beautiful hose clamp off:

And replace it with the old one, which I'd fortunately refinished in VHT alu with some other bits. I pressed their hose clamp back together as much as I could but you must need a specialist tool. If it pops off, will I kill the turbo? Not a question I could get answers to immediately, so the other pipe from the frequency solenoid went onto the bottom of this:

My kindly-donated, soon-to-be-regifted, and freshly Ferrosolved (honestly, does this stuff not do wonders?!) bung went into the downpipe (god, I hate that long stud sticking out right on the top):

And the other spigot pipe went back to the oil seperator. I couldn't force the two new hose clips on at all, so they will have to stay like this for now. I hope to replace all this pipework with new silicon but I will wait to see what comes from Amber - my suspicion is the Ancillary Hose Kit covers these 3 and only 30 more sleeps to go, apparently, le sigh:

Note the new centre cover, just resting as a crap-shield for now. Will bolt it on before I drive to the spray shop. Gasket is lost and was destroyed removing it anyway, and I can't see them for sale, or in the manual; so I will attach it with silicon or butyl eventually…...

[Jeemy]

When it rains I go underneath. So the charge cooler, loosely fitted into place with mounds of effort and more possible damage to it, I had to remove the anti-roll link, etc etc, I wish I'd never started, went back on. You can see in bright silver the new reinforcing nuts I've put in, drilling through the fibreglass in a second place to toughen up this area. Lots of work here reattaching pipes with new hose clips, changing over the neoprene sealing strips, hacksawing bolts, and made easier by the fact that I stopped after 2 hacksawed bolts and ordered a metric tonne of M6/8/10/12 bolts, washers and nuts which I am now replacing everything with instead of reusing anything non-critical. i.e. if its a banjo or attached to something that I don't know how it works, I use the original. Stuff like this, I am happy to drill, upgrade, widen washers etc until I am happy. Compared to how wobbly the charge cooler was, this is solid as a rock and sealed in with new neoprene, has some impact resistance. I decided not to buy a new one; instead once I am finished I will investigate replacing with a water-cooled version - its cheaper to have a custom intercooler made to fit the bracket than it is to replace this! A job for next winter….I shoved my spraycan up through the access hole, scooshed it with Eastwood Radiator Black to cover the damage done on insertion, which for anybody referencing is best done (as I discovered after too long) by inserting the charge cooler front down and top forwards, below the anti-roll bar, after removing the link, then pulling down on the anti-roll bar and pivoting it up:

In shot behind is my daily drive A6 - almost up to RS6 spec; new brake kit, discs, pads, wheels & tyres are sitting in the back of the van and will be going on shortly when I get an effin second, all right?

The downpipe to flex-pipe was easy enough (although I didn't realize the little ring should have gone in here or at the next bit, the mechanic over the road popped over and told me to stop being such a p*ssy, you should always have a bit left over or the jobs 'nae guid') - without instructions from Piper, I torqued to 25 lb/ft, same as the downpipe bolts:

Locating the centre section was not. Hardest thing I ever had to do. On the creeper I couldn't get enough purchase, so I ended up flat on my back on the concrete, with a leg wedged against each wheel, pulling the hanger on. Covered in sweat, sore joints, and bruised all over. But its on!

Perhaps this joint from flex to midsection is where the doughnut goes. It certainly didn't mate too well but I couldn't force it any closer even after a restorative cigarette (and I rarely smoke) and a beer (which went someway to relieve the aching):

The next section went on pretty easy (its starting to look really gleaming, imagine if the wheels were clean!):

And thats where I'm at! Today I attached the turbo air pipes, the silencer, and not much else, its been beating with rain. Not taken pics as I haven't got everything seated properly yet, and I am still umming and ahhing about whether to find a place for the doughnut…..

But my main question is - having not run the car for almost a year, and having been revising potential problems - could my alternator have seized? Am I likely to crack something or split a belt when I start up (hopefully tomorrow?!).

And my second question - how do I retension the PAS belt?

Very nervous to know.

For my own reference rather than anything else, left to do:

- finally seat the exhaust, then torque all the dry joints
- reconnect the harness (my gold silicon is infinitely delayed, I should never have bothered disconnecting it)
- charge the battery
- fix up the air hoses
- flush the coolant
- check the oil level
- tension PAS belt
- fix manifold nuts on
- fix up heatshields
- charge battery and reconnect
- hoover or wipe out around sparks, before removing boots (carefully so as not to disconnect wires)
- fill turbo with oil, and fit turbo oil pipe
- oil air filter
- crank engine to get oil pressure up (just turn the key, right?)
- reconnect spark plugs
- profit

[HJ2]

[Jeemy]

Does that mean I've made a cock-up???

[HJ2]

nope!

[hatters]

Fantastic
Your engine bay looks amazing I wish mine looked half as good as that
Well done I am very impressed indeed
R.H

[Jeemy]

ITS RUNNING!

I have oil pressure, couple of water leaks sorted, just going to put heatshields on and post up a bit more later!!

[Rob P]

Nice work, soon be a case of

[Jeemy]

Well update is:

She runs and idles fine, and sits in neutral no problem (I set the throttle and clutch to the 3mm from the manual). Push the accelerator, she accelerates, no apparent pull on the wheels in neutral. I have not tested engaging any gears, because she is still on ramps.

No visible signs from the boost gauge but this was always badly earthed so it may be an easy fix, can't say more until it actually has some weight to push against.

All water leaks identified and coolant is settling, its only water inside just now, approx 3L went in after initial flush which obviously left some standing water.
I will have to drain and add water-wetter and insert a proper mixture.

Headlights, sidelights still work. When you put the indicators on, it trips the hazard switch a lot…..I have a disconnected electrical plug in the engine near the nearside headlight (an oversight) which may well be causing a resistance issue, its easy to test in the daylight.

The battery has been charging for 6-7 hours now. When you start the car, the black & decker charger changes its tone, reports the battery needs serviced or replaced. I have not run the alternator test yet. I kind of think a new battery is a given anyway. Its probably 20 years old. Battery voltage on the dial seems to tally with the report from the charger. Its very unclear whether the alternator works.

No warning lights, when you drop the handbrake, the car goes dark. But it stays dark. I have no dash lights at all, on side or full. I do plan to replace with Metal Monkey dials and LEDs - but as to where the power for these has gone, I am unclear. I don't think I ever drove it in the dark, so they maybe never worked. But the centre console is still out, including the mirror and window switches, so this may be a contributing factor.

Oil pressure sits about 6, don't quote me on that. The turbo took about 50ml of oil. Mobil 5w/40 as recommended here.

I set the tailpipe a bit left of centre on the basis that tightening the bolt pushed it right. The exhaust is still not fully sealed up to the downpipe, but hopefully its had a basic chance to settle and i can tighten the slip joints over the weekend. Its too dark to see if the silencer has moved right under vibration, but I hope it will shake into a good seating and then I can re-sit if necesary.

No heatshields installed really and the turbo gets very hot to the touch even just under idle, but its full of oil as far as I can see, it was passing through to the oil feed pipe which dripped a little at the engine block end on filling, after sealing, there are no leaks, I can only presume its working OK.

Heaters and blowers appear to work. Setting 1 is very low, setting 4 is a bit vibratey, and its hard to tell how much air is getting through and if the vacuum system is opening and closing vents. But positions 1 & 2 activate the blower, they did not before. I do not have vents on because I don't want overspray on them. I must admit I thought my changing the vacuum hoses would be an instant power boost…..its nothing of the kind…...

The main worry I have is chittering from the PAS and alternator belts. In desperation I lifted the PAS pump using my engine crane to put enough tension on it to give the belt about 1cm of movement with a finger push. The alternator belt has never been touched since it was refitted last August (I think, it looks like a new belt, I can't remember what I bought!).

They go chit-chit-chit. I will lithium-grease the wheels but it may be fine. Obv can't test steering until she drops from the ramps once I finalise the exhaust mounts & joints.

Interior lights on the rear-view mirror don't seem to register if the doors are closed, they are on all the time.

So if anybody can give me tips on minimising noise from the belts and making sure they are OK, that would be super. Also help on ensuring the alternator is good. I don't know how to tell short of running the car til she dies in an inconvenient place. But the B&D battery charger does have an alternator test mode I've never used or understood how…..